Marionettes, masks and shadowsMills, Winifred H. (Winifred Harrington)
Philosophy
Marionettes, masks and shadows
Mills, Winifred H. (Winifred Harrington)
Costume; Masques; Puppet plays; Shadow shows
Occasionally there is a need for smoke. In the play of _Aladdin and the
Wonderful Lamp_, the genii appear out of a cloud of smoke. In _Sigurd,
the Volsung_, the dragon may be made to breathe forth smoke. In the
_Adventures of Alice_, you may remember the old caterpillar who sits on
a toadstool and smokes his pipe. Smoke can be made from ammonia and
hydrochloric acid. The illustration shows how this is done. In order to
make the dragon breathe forth smoke, a rubber tube was run through its
body from mouth to tail. The end that extended from the tail was
connected with the tube that came from the bottles. When a boy blew
through the tube, smoke came from the dragon’s mouth. In the marionette
play of _Aladdin and His Wonderful Lamp_, a hole was bored through the
stage floor at the spot where the genie was to appear. At the clap of
thunder that announced the genie’s appearance, a cloud of smoke poured
forth.
[Illustration: [Lamp]]
In the _Adventures of Alice_, when the caterpillar was made, a tube was
run through his body from tail to mouth. When this tube was attached to
the bottle tube, and the lazy old fellow took his pipe in his mouth, he
appeared to blow out great puffs of smoke to the surprise and delight of
everyone.
The toadstool was such a nice property that you may wish to know how it
was constructed. The girl who made it found some beautiful pictures of
toadstools in an old number of the _National Geographic_. She chose one
of interesting shape and color as her model, and reproduced it with
papier-mâché. When it was quite dry, she colored it to represent the
illustration. It was winter time when this play was given. Had it been
any other season, she could have gone to the woods and fields and
searched out a beautiful specimen which would have served her purpose
much better than the illustration.
Fireplaces and stoves are comparatively modern inventions. Braziers were
used in earlier times. They consisted of a metal tripod and a basin to
hold the coals. A brazier could be used appropriately in a Greek or
Roman play, or in a play of the Middle Ages. The tripod could be made of
wire or of tin. The basin could be made of tin, wood, or papier-mâché.
Both the tripod and the basin should be painted to imitate bronze or
iron. A tiny red bulb can be fastened into the center of the basin, and
attached to a wire leading down from the tripod, through the stage
floor. Slightly conceal the bulb with small bits of wood. The warm light
from this brazier will throw a glow on the face of a marionette, who is
warming his hands over it.
A marionette may carry a lantern. This marionette lantern may be made
from any small tin or cardboard box. Find some pictures of old lanterns
suitable for your play, and then make a lantern as much like the
illustration as you can. A pattern of holes should be punched in the
sides. A tiny electric bulb may be fastened inside the lantern and its
wire carried up to the controller and from there to the battery.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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